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Skindred UK Tour 2009
During late September and October 2009 Dead by April toured as the opening act for metal band Skindred in the UK. Dead by April performed 16 concerts as opening act before ending their UK-stay with a headline gig in London. Info It was announced on July 21, 2009, that Dead by April was confirmed as the opening act for Skindred during their Shark Bites and Dog Fights Tour in October 2009. The Australian band Karnivool was also part of the tour package and played as the first band of the evening while Dead by April played as the second, just before Skindred. However, this was not Dead by April's first visit to the UK. The first UK gig took place at the Barfly in London on 8 June, 2009. On July 31, 2009 the band played a show at the HMV Forum in London and on August 2, the band returned to play a set at the Sonisphere festival in Hertfordshire. It was however the band's first real tour outside of Sweden and perhaps the tightest tour schedule so far. Initially it was thought that Dead by April would play 18 concerts with Skindred, but the band was forced to turn down two gigs in Exeter and Southampton,16 & 17 October, because of a quick trip to Japan and a gig at the classic rock festival Loud Park on October 18. Quite remarkable that the band played in Japan on October 18 and allready the day after was back in the UK for a show in Brighton. Dead by April ended their stay in the UK with a sweaty headline gig at the Water Rats in London. Dead by April certainly had toured a lot during the summer but their stay in the UK was something new. Instead of playing in front of thousands of fans who knew the songs, the band was forced to start over again and play in front of smaller audiences who wasn't familiar with the material. Jimmie Strimell and Johan Olsson about the UK concerts: : "Don't get us wrong, we're very happy that we get to do this. No one here knows us! Back home it is all sold out, always, and people is screaming and begging for us to not quit. Here they do not know us but it's fun too. About the audience response, it has been surprisingly good, at least if you ask me. You're actually a little proud when people still appreciate what we do, even here in England, it appears after all that we are doing something good and not vice versa." http://deadbyapril.wikia.com/wiki/2009-11-22_-_Slavestate_Interview Not only the concerts were a new experience for the band. The band lived on a tour bus for the duration and fairly quickly Jimmie became tired of what the roads had to offer. : "We are all fairly comfortable. There's a difference between taking a weekend at a nice hotel in London and travelling around the tour bus where it is forced to "take a shower, shit and eat." After a few days of greasy pig food I'd had enough, so now it's soups with Swedish biscuits and rusks and a shitload of fruit that goes down instead." http://deadbyapril.wikia.com/wiki/2009-11-22_-_Slavestate_Interview Shortly before the tour's starting date Dead by April released Angels of Clarity as a specific UK single, on September 28, 2009. Acoustic versions of Promise Me and Losing You, as well as Shawn "Clown" Crahans remix of Angels of Clarity was B-sides on the single release. Almost exactly a year after the band's first UK tour, the band returned for their second UK Tour, in October 2010. This time they were the support act for My Passion and without Pontus Hjelm and Johan Olsson. Reception Dead by April was received mainly well despite that their celebrity status in England was still very small. Many of the younger fans were impressed by the Swedish band, and all too often Strimell succeeded with starting a wall of death during Erased. ''The real crowd-pleasing, however, was first during ''Losing You, the evening's final song. Even the UK had the song reached a certain recognition factor. A reviewer at one of the gigs was impressed by the band's energy and eager attempts to get the crowd going. : "They may appear to be somewhat comfortable when they later complains about the cold showers and filthy toilets but these guys are clearly aware that they are at a disadvantage here and well on stage there are no a trace of laziness. The band must fight to win over what is largely a sceptic audience, who mostly seems to think that the tattooed and well-trained Swedes looks "puffy. But as they struggle." ''http://deadbyapril.wikia.com/wiki/2009-11-22_-_Slavestate_Interview Also Zach Redrup that witnessed the show in Stoke was impressed by Dead by April and gave a special gold star to the band's vocal effort. : ''"The co-vocals efforts from angelic Pontus Hjelm and verging upon demonic Jimmie Strimell compliment one another like strawberries and cream. Songs like In My Arms and Losing You are sung straight back to the Swedish group from all parts of the room, and though some efforts to involve the whole crowd miss the target, Dead By April set a mark in the Stoke crowd." http://www.deadpress.co.uk/269/live-skindred-the-sugarmill-stoke-07102009 Despite all the positive feedback there was also those skeptics who could not quite take in the band's extreme mixtures. Daniel Gray saw the last night of the tour and didn't really enjoyed his experience. : "While they don’t play badly, you can’t help but feel that everything is far too calculated and fabricated. They sound almost like a band trying to be Atreyu but aimed at Backstreet Boys fans." http://deadbysunrise.co.uk/blog/?p=408 Set list Sadly, not a single set list from the tour exists. Very few recordings exists, but it's clear that the band played quite long concerts as an opening act. Songs we know was played live during the tour is Trapped, Angels of Clartiy, Losing You, What Can I Say, Erased, Promise Me, In My Arms, Stronger and I Made It ''which gives us a possible set list, based on previous lists in the summer. #Trapped #Angels of Clarity #Promise Me #In My Arms #Erased #What Can I Say #Stronger #I Made It #Losing You ''I Made It in itself is something of a rarity and was used as a form of encore opener. Unlike the September-shows in Sweden, Jimmie sang both the verses of I Made It, instead of Pontus singing the first. Recordings As previously stated, few recordings from the tour exists. Concerts worth checking out are the opening night in Norwich, where four songs in great quality exist. Also the show from Wolverhampton is a must to check out. It's the gig with most material preserved. As many as seven songs in good quality and as a bonus the whole I Made It. The closing gig in London on October 21 is also interesting because it is the only show with an audio recording of Stronger. Dates *2009-09-30 - Waterfront, Norwich, England *2009-10-01 - The Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, England *2009-10-02 - Manchester Academy, Manchester, England *2009-10-03 - Leeds Cockpit, Leeds, England *2009-10-04 - Academy 2, Newcastle, England *2009-10-05 - ABC 2, Glasgow, Scotland *2009-10-07 - The Sugarmill, Stoke, England *2009-10-08 - The Corporation, Sheffield, England *2009-10-09 - Roadmender, Northampton, England *2009-10-10 - Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, England *2009-10-11 - University Souls, Cardiff, Wales *2009-10-12 - Academy 2, Oxford, England *2009-10-13 - Academy 2, Bristol, England *2009-10-15 - Pavillions, Falmouth, England *2009-10-19 - Concorde 2, Brighton, England *2009-10-20 - Electric Ballroom, London, England *2009-10-21 - Water Rats, London, England (Headline show) Source